The car ride to St. Helena's High was suffocating. My father drove in silence, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. Every so often, he glanced at me, his sharp eyes cutting through the air like knives.
"This is your chance to start over, Jessica," he finally said, his voice low, heavy with warning. "No mistakes. No… distractions. Do you understand?"
I swallowed, staring out the window as the world blurred past. "Yes, Dad."
But inside, I wanted to scream. Distractions? If only he knew that my whole mind was a distraction—haunted, fragmented, slipping between reality and memory.
When we reached the school gates, he didn't even wait for me to say goodbye. The moment I stepped out, he sped off, leaving me in a sea of strangers.
The courtyard buzzed with laughter and voices. Everyone seemed to already know where they belonged, who to talk to, and which group to sit with. I pulled my bag tighter against me and walked quickly, trying to make myself invisible.
"Hey, you're new, right?"
I turned. A girl with long braids and a warm smile stood beside me. Her eyes were curious, but not unkind.
"Yeah," I said softly.
"I'm Leah. Don't worry, everyone's weird on their first day. You'll get used to it." She flashed me a grin.
I nodded, forcing a smile. But as she walked with me down the hallway, my attention shifted. Just ahead, leaning casually against a row of lockers, was a familiar figure. His head tilted, his eyes locked on me. My heart jumped to my throat.
Jason.
I blinked and the hallway was empty.
"Jessica?" Leah nudged me. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Just… dizzy."
The rest of the day dragged on like a punishment. Teachers introduced themselves, classmates whispered, but all I heard was the echo of his voice in my mind. At lunch, I sat with Leah and a few others, pretending to laugh at their jokes, but my stomach twisted with unease. Across the cafeteria, I swore I saw him again—sitting alone, watching me with that same unreadable stare.
By the time the final bell rang, my head pounded. I just wanted to go home.
But home wasn't safe either.
When I walked through the door, my father was already in the living room, jacket off, drink in hand. His gaze snapped to me like a predator catching movement.
"Did you behave?" he asked flatly.
I hesitated. "It was just… school."
"School is where mistakes happen," he snapped, slamming the glass down. "Don't embarrass this family again. Do you hear me?"
My mother's voice drifted faintly from the kitchen, begging him to calm down, but he only glared harder. I nodded quickly, retreating to my room before the tension could thicken.
Collapsing onto my bed, I pressed a pillow over my face to muffle the scream clawing its way out of me. I wanted to disappear. To wake up in a world where the shadows didn't follow me, where Jason wasn't waiting at every corner of my vision.
When I finally dragged myself to my desk, I opened my bag to take out my books. A single folded piece of paper slipped out and fluttered onto the floor.
I froze.
With trembling fingers, I unfolded it. The handwriting was jagged, messy, but achingly familiar.
"Don't forget your promise."
My chest tightened. I looked around my empty room, heart racing. The walls seemed to close in, shadows stretching long and heavy.
And in the silence, I almost heard it—his voice, low and steady, whispering just for me:
"I'll stand by you till the end of the earth".